The Sunoco Go Rewards 200 at The Glen is a
Xfinity Series that takes place annually at the
Watkins Glen International
Watkins Glen International, nicknamed "The Glen", is an automobile race track located in the town of Dix just southwest of the village of Watkins Glen, New York, at the southern tip of Seneca Lake. It was long known around the world as the hom ...
road course in
Watkins Glen, New York
Watkins Glen is a village and census-designated place in and the county seat of Schuyler County, New York, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 1,829. Watkins Glen lies within the towns of Dix and Reading. To the southwest o ...
.
Kyle Larson
Kyle Miyata Larson (born July 31, 1992) is an American professional auto racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 5 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for Hendrick Motorsports. Larson is the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series champ ...
is the defending race winner.
The race was originally held from 1991 to 2001 but was dropped for the 2002 season after NASCAR decided to remove the road course events from all lower series' schedules. The race returned to the schedule in 2005 and for two seasons was one of three road races on the second division series' schedule. The other two were the
Corona México 200
The Corona México 200 presented by Banamex is a discontinued NASCAR Nationwide Series stock car race held at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez road course in Mexico City, Mexico. The inaugural race was held in 2005 and the final race was held in ...
at
Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez in
Mexico City
Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital and largest city of Mexico, and the most populous city in North America. One of the world's alpha cities, it is located in the Valley o ...
and the
NAPA Auto Parts 200 at
Circuit Gilles Villeneuve
The Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, also spelled ''Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve'' (), is a motor racing circuit in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is the venue for the FIA Formula One Canadian Grand Prix. It has previously hosted the FIA World Sportscar ...
in
Montreal
Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...
, which both have since been removed from the schedule.
In the original race NASCAR Winston Cup veteran
Terry Labonte and
road course ringer Ron Fellows were the only two drivers to win multiple times, with 4 and 3 wins respectively. Since the race has been revived,
Marcos Ambrose has won the most races with four, followed by
Joey Logano
Joseph Thomas Logano (born May 24, 1990), is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 22 Ford Mustang for Team Penske, and part-time in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Seri ...
who has won three and
Kurt Busch
Kurt Thomas Busch (born August 4, 1978) is an American professional auto racing driver. He last competed full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 45 Toyota Camry TRD for 23XI Racing. He is the 2004 NASCAR Cup Series champion and the ...
who has won twice.
Race summaries
*1998: In one of the biggest upsets in series history, Canadian
Ron Fellows led 54 laps en route to his first Busch victory in just his second series start, becoming the first Canadian driver in NASCAR history to win races in both of NASCAR's second- and third-tier national series.
*1999: Fellows dominated again starting from the pole, but got beaten by
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Ralph Dale Earnhardt Jr. (born October 10, 1974) is an American semi-retired professional stock car racing driver, team owner, author, and an analyst for ''NASCAR on NBC''. He currently competes part-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving t ...
on the final lap to steal the win. It was a bit of redemption for Earnhardt as Earnhardt had engine problems while leading the 1998 Lysol 200.
*2000: Fellows in
Joe Nemechek's No. 87 Chevy, started up front, led the most laps and won the race for a second time. Future Cup champion
Jimmie Johnson
Jimmie Kenneth Johnson (born September 17, 1975) is an American professional auto racing driver. A seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion, he competes part-time in the series driving for Petty GMS Motorsports. Johnson's seven Cup championships, ...
infamously hit the wall very hard in turn 1 after losing his brakes. He was uninjured.
*2001:
Scott Pruett
Scott Donald Pruett (born March 24, 1960) is a former American race car driver who has competed in NASCAR, CART, IMSA, Trans-Am and Grand-Am. He and his wife Judy have three children and are children's book authors.
Pruett started racing go ...
won the pole leading for 16 laps. Fellows, driving for
NEMCO Motorsports
NEMCO Motorsports is an American professional stock car racing team that last competed in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. The team is owned by driver Joe Nemechek and his family. NEMCO Motorsports has had success, winning the 1992 Busch Se ...
in the No. 87 Bully Hill Vineyards Chevy, won the race against
Greg Biffle
Gregory Jack Biffle (born December 23, 1969) is an American semi-retired professional stock car racing driver. He last competed part-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 44 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for NY Racing Team and full-time in the ...
,
Kevin Harvick, and
Robby Gordon. It was his third Watkins Glen victory and his third Nationwide series win. This initially was supposed to be the final Busch race at Watkins Glen but the event was born again in 2005. The race was aired on TNT with Mike Hogewood, Jeremy Dale, Tony Stewart, Ralph Sheheen, Matt Yocum, who was at Daytona the previous night and Liz Allison broadcasting.
*2005:
Tony Stewart
Anthony Wayne Stewart (born May 20, 1971), nicknamed Smoke, is an American semi-retired professional stock car racing driver, current NASCAR team co-owner of Stewart-Haas Racing, and current co-owner of the Superstar Racing Experience. He is a ...
, driving for
Kevin Harvick Incorporated, won the pole spot. He led the first 17 laps and then after pit stops,
Robby Gordon in his self-owned No. 55 Red Bull car led 6 more laps. After lead changes and several cautions, Robby Gordon would lead 6 more laps hoping to win for the first time since autumn 2004 but would find himself being outran by
Jeff Burton
Jeffrey Tyler Burton (born June 29, 1967), nicknamed The Mayor, is an American former professional stock car racing driver and current racing commentator. He scored 21 career victories in the NASCAR Cup Series, including two Coca-Cola 600s in ...
,
Brian Vickers and others. The ending laps found Ryan Newman winning in
Roger Penske
Roger Searle Penske (born February 20, 1937) is an American businessman and entrepreneur involved in professional auto racing and a retired professional auto racing driver. He is most famous for his ownership of Team Penske, DJR Team Penske, t ...
's No. 39 Alltel Dodge. After the race ended Tony Stewart spun out Vickers resulting in a $5,000 fine from NASCAR and probation until December 31.
*2006: This race would find a terrific battle against
Kurt Busch
Kurt Thomas Busch (born August 4, 1978) is an American professional auto racing driver. He last competed full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 45 Toyota Camry TRD for 23XI Racing. He is the 2004 NASCAR Cup Series champion and the ...
and
Robby Gordon. Busch, in Penske's No. 39 Penske Trucks Dodge, led the most laps and got by Gordon in his (Gordon's) self-owned No. 07 Toyota on the restart. Gordon and Busch fought for 4 laps and Gordon figured out with 2 laps left that he would have better momentum in the inner-loop. With half-a-lap left in the race, Gordon drove side by side with Kurt struggling, beating and banging with him until exiting the outer-loop. Busch would maintain momentum to win; he praised Gordon for the fight, saying it reminded him of his race with
Ricky Craven
Richard Allen Craven (born May 24, 1966) is an American stock car racing analyst and former driver. Prior to his broadcasting duties, he was a NASCAR driver who won in four different series—the K&N Pro Series, and the three national series.
He ...
at Darlington in 2003 when Craven beat Busch by 0.002 of a second to win.
*2007:
Kevin Harvick, who was under temporary probation by NASCAR and facing controversy from media and fans for wrecking Pruett and winning the
NAPA 200 the previous week at Montreal, won the race for his second consecutive win and second of three road course races of 2007. Harvick would say to reporters (after the broadcasting) in victory lane that he was sorry for the incident but claimed that he, Childress and Pruett were past it and reconciled for the incident at Montreal. Gordon announced that he would field a race car for
Marcos Ambrose at the Cup race the next day hoping to make amends for intentionally wrecking Ambrose at Montreal the previous week. Ambrose finished in 13th spot in this event and said after the race that he and Gordon were all past the Montreal race.
*2008: With 10 laps left,
Jeff Burton
Jeffrey Tyler Burton (born June 29, 1967), nicknamed The Mayor, is an American former professional stock car racing driver and current racing commentator. He scored 21 career victories in the NASCAR Cup Series, including two Coca-Cola 600s in ...
and Johnson fought for the lead in fuel crisis. With 5 laps left, Burton ran out of gas and the next lap Johnson ran out of gas. As Jimmie Johnson pitted and was later penalized for speeding exiting pit road; Ambrose took the lead driving in his Kingsford No. 59 car as the fans roared; they recalled Ambrose almost winning the previous year at Montreal in 2007 but being wrecked by a DQed Robby Gordon with 3 to go and ending up 7th. As he reached the final lap Ambrose was too far ahead for the runners-up;
Kyle Busch
Kyle Thomas Busch (born May 2, 1985) is an American professional stock car racing driver and team owner. He currently competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 8 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for Richard Childress Racing and part-t ...
,
Matt Kenseth,
Kevin Harvick, and
Dario Franchitti
George Dario Marino Franchitti, MBE (born 19 May 1973) is a British former racing driver and current motorsport commentator from Scotland. He is a four time IndyCar Series champion ( 2007, 2009, 2010, 2011), a three-time winner of the Indiana ...
to try to pass him for the win but his worry was he reached the bumper of a lapped
Boris Said. When realizing who he was racing with, Ambrose slowed down and was told to not pass by his spotter and crews. Ambrose and Boris Said had an incident at Mexico City that spring where Said after being wrecked by him (Ambrose) furiously wagged his finger at Ambrose as he went a lap down and vowed revenge; Marcos Ambrose had to hope that Said would not commit his payback and so to try to not anger Said, Ambrose followed him to the checkers and soon a caution came out on the final turn for
Steve Wallace who ran out of gas. The caution secured his first NNS win no matter if he was wrecked by Boris or passed by the others. This event would be the first victory of JTG Racing for the Busch series. Scotland's Franchitti had his greatest NASCAR finish of 5th place behind Harvick but would announce later that month that he would resign from NASCAR to return to rival racing franchise
IndyCar
INDYCAR, LLC, is an American-based auto racing sanctioning body for Indy car racing and other disciplines of open wheel car racing. The organization sanctions five racing series: the premier IndyCar Series with its centerpiece the Indianapolis ...
.
*2009: Ambrose left the No. 59 Kingsford team to drive for a teammate crew of the No. 47 car owned by a partnership with
JTG Daugherty Racing and
Michael Waltrip Racing
Michael Waltrip Racing Holdings LLC, doing business as Michael Waltrip Racing ("MWR"), was an American professional stock car racing team that last competed full-time in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. The company was as a 50–50 partnership betwe ...
. At the Glen he fought with driver Kyle Busch in a long battle ending when he accidentally caused Busch to land in an illegal place on the track and forced him to stop and reverse to get back in the pack which secured Ambrose's win. Ambrose won the race for the second time in a row with his 2-year-old daughter Adelaide watching. His win finished under green than a caution. As he did his burnout Kyle Busch who refired his car in the middle of the pack to get the runner-up spot, expressed displeasure by giving him a retaliatory bump but he and Ambrose moved on the next day when Ambrose apologized for pushing Busch on the illegal spot. Due to Marcos Ambrose leaving the No. 59 team he had a new crew chief and was emotional about his win. His win at the Glen was overshadowed by his heartbreak the next two weeks later at Montreal.
*2010: Ambrose was having a bad year with his No. 47 crew chief due to having unluckiness or coming close to winning but losing close to the finish; his heartbreak at Montreal the previous year, his Cup Series heartbreak at Sonoma, engine problems, and some feuds with others haunted him until August. Ambrose in the final laps due to a pit stop call held off popular drivers Harvick,
Joey Logano
Joseph Thomas Logano (born May 24, 1990), is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 22 Ford Mustang for Team Penske, and part-time in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Seri ...
and
Kyle Busch
Kyle Thomas Busch (born May 2, 1985) is an American professional stock car racing driver and team owner. He currently competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 8 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for Richard Childress Racing and part-t ...
to take the 3rd consecutive win and in victory lane he expressed more emotion about beating a new record of the second driver to win 3 consecutive Glen wins. He would join
Ron Fellows as 3-time winners of the race.
*2011: Kurt Busch broke Ambrose's consecutive streak by winning against Johnson, Joey Logano, Kyle Busch, Ron Fellows and Paul Menard. Kurt's win was his second Watkins Glen victory for the Busch series. Marcos Ambrose did not race due to him trying to practice for his NSCS win hopes that weekend with new team Richard Petty Motorsports; his practice for the Cup series than Nationwide likely led him to win his first NASCAR Sprint Cup series win that weekend on RPM.
*2012:
Carl Edwards makes his return to the Nationwide Series due to him not making the
Chase for the Sprint Cup in 2012 unlike the previous year where he almost won the 2011 championship; battled former rival Brad Keselowski; the fans wondered breathless if Keselowski and Edwards would refire their previous ended rivalry; following Edwards being crashed by Keselowski at
Talladega in 2009 and several retaliations against each other in 2010 they were ordered to settle down and so the fans wondered if the race would be controversial against Edwards and Keselowski but instead Edwards drove to victory lane in the 2012 Zippo 200 without a wreck or contact with Keselowski and in victory lane both Keselowski and Edwards confirmed that they no longer dislike each other.
*2013:
Sam Hornish Jr.
Samuel Jon Hornish Jr. (born July 2, 1979) is an American semi-retired professional auto racing driver. He last competed part-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No. 22 Ford Mustang for Team Penske in 2017.
He began his top-tier raci ...
led the first 15 laps of the event.
Brad Keselowski would lead the most laps of 46 and win the race holding off
Brian Vickers,
Regan Smith
The family name Regan, along with its cognates O'Regan, O Regan, Reagan, and O'Reagan, is an Anglicized form of the Irish surname Ó Riagáin or Ó Ríogáin, from Ua Riagáin. The meaning is likely to have originated in ancient Gaelic ''ri'' " ...
and Hornish.
*2014: Joey Logano and Brad Keselowski, the Penske duo, started on the front row. It seemed like it was going to be one of them that would win since they were performing real well. Despite this, Logano and Keselowski got over-taken by
Marcos Ambrose and
Kyle Busch
Kyle Thomas Busch (born May 2, 1985) is an American professional stock car racing driver and team owner. He currently competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 8 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for Richard Childress Racing and part-t ...
. Ambrose and Busch had spun out earlier in the race but despite this, Ambrose led 48 of 82 laps and went on to win the race, his 5th NNS win, and his 4th consecutive Watkins Glen race he's entered. Busch showed discontent with Ambrose in post-race ceremonies. The win tied Ambrose with
Terry Labonte for the record of the most NNS Watkins Glen race wins.
*2015: The Penske cars of Logano and Keselowski dominated the race, the two leading the most laps with 40 each and it was ultimately Logano who took the win, following a four-lap sprint to the checkers. Keselowski finished second, giving Team Penske a 1–2 finish in the race.
*2016: Penske Racing again entered two cars for Logano and Keselowski, with both cars dominating the race. The race featured a bizarre incident when the No. 70
Chevrolet Camaro of
1990 Daytona 500
The 1990 Daytona 500, the 32nd running of the event, was held on February 18, 1990 at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida over 200 laps on the 2.5 mile (4 km) asphalt tri-oval. The first race of the 1990 ...
champion
Derrike Cope appeared to explode in the chicane. It was later discovered that a brake line on the car broke and fluid leaked onto the calipers, causing the fluid to boil and blow apart the brake, which led to the front end of Cope's car to be blown apart. Logano won for the second year in a row.
*2017: After recovering from a spin early, and a pit penalty, Kyle Busch won at Watkins Glen for the first time in the Xfinity Series. It was his 90th Xfinity win, and only his second on a road course with the other being Mexico in 2008. He has now only failed to win at 2 active tracks (Road America and Mid-Ohio However he never ran in the first two of these) in NASCAR's second tier division.
*2018: Rain tires were used during the race.
Past winners
*2006 & 2011: Races extended due to
NASCAR overtime
The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. The privately owned company was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1948, and h ...
.
*2020: Race canceled and moved to the
Daytona Road Course due to quarantine requirements in New York associated with the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
.
Track length notes
*1991: 2.428-mile ''"classic"'' course.
*1992–present: 2.45-mile ''"Cup"'' course.
Multiple winners (drivers)
Multiple winners (teams)
Manufacturer wins
References
External links
*
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1991 establishments in New York (state)
Recurring sporting events established in 1991
NASCAR Xfinity Series races
Annual sporting events in the United States